New sharpening set

I picked up a set of DMT DuoSharp bench stones thinking that is what i needed for my new stanley 750 Chisel set.The DMT grits are 220 /325 /600 /1200.

I bought the DMT DuoSharp diamond stones on an impulse. Now after searching here for the last 2 hours, I dont know what I need. Can y’all help me narrow it down. what does one need to sharpen chisels and plane irons besides what I have. (I actually dont have a hand plane yet) I dont mind spending a little money to get what I need. There are so many posts and so many different suggestions its really hard to tell what would be best. It seems like someone would have a package deal of all the necessary stones…

Now that you have all the diamond grits to get the basic edge started the only thing that would get you to the “mirror edge” would be a 4000 grit water stone. But unless you have a rock steady hand and an uncanny ability to judge angles this is what you need. Veritas Mk II honing jig This is without a doubt some of the BEST money I’ve spent for sharpening. Plane irons and chisels come out as close to perfect as I can get them. The number of angles that this can be set up for is amazing. Plus all the “micro bevels” that can be done with it. You just have to remember to flatten the backs before you proceed to the edge. I bought my Mk II at Woodcraft.

Does a stone have to be essentially dead-flat to work well with the Mk II honing jig? I’ve used a no-name jig with sandpaper and glass (which are very flat), but I’m starting to experiment with oilstones and am wondering if I need to flatten them in order to get good results with a sharpening jig.

@shaneA. From your comment, you have been in my position before.Thanks Guys!Oh yes, almost forgot, I do already have the Veritas MKII. Still in the box…I’m glad you said water stones, knowing noting about sharpening, I would think that water would be less of a mess, but the How to hone a chislel video on Fine wood woodworking uses oil.

I guess I will get the norton 4000/8000 combo stone. should that do it? Sharpeningsupplies.com has all that stuff, but as I said, I did not know what else I needed. Have you seen the ceramic stones on there? $$$

This will flatten your water stones if you suspect that they are getting “hollowed”. Norton flattening stone Or as Barr Quarten of Barr Chisels does, use that 220 grit diamond stone. The grooves in the Norton help clear the “sludge” as you grind the water stone flat. I did mine in the laundry tub with a steam of water flushing the stone as I flattened it. Plus it brings up “fresh” crystals to the surface and cleans any metal that may have been entrained into the stone surface.

I just bought a set of DMT’s as well. It also was an impulse buy of a good price on a buy-it-now at Ebay. I started with waterstones and hated them. I did not like the mess, and my shop isn’t heated so I always had to worry about freezing. I then picked up a few oil stones at some flea markets. I liked them a whole lot better. I think the mess is less, and you don’t have to worry about your tools rusting if you forget to oil them.

I have the 3 micron DMT in my set. I never understand switching from the DMT to water stones. Why not just buy the last DMT?

I would never go back to water stones, as a matter of fact I sold them. The oil stones I will keep.

I use window cleaner. I got that from a Paul Sellers video and it seems to work well. Its fairly inexpensive. As the bottle empties I add a little water and don’t seem to see much difference, so I’m not sure if it matters. I haven’t tried plane water yet, but it may work as well. I just use a squirt bottle.

As I said, I’ve only had them a short time (maybe a month or 2) so I haven’t had a lot of time to experiment.

I hate to think what I’ve spent over the years trying to get to “working sharp” iron efficiently. Almost every system has drawbacks, mess, hassle, effort, time, skill, cost, the cost factor alone can really add up quickly. Having said that I have settled on one of the most expensive systems if you just look at the “buy in” cost but not so if you look at long term cost. Now that Tormek has a 3000 grit stone its system will give a working edge with minimum muss and fuss. In addition to the T-7 you need a reference surface, i.e. stone counter top cut off or plate glass and course PSA sandpaper to quickly flatten the back, followed by a soft Arkansas and a hard Arkansas to get the back ready to polish and a couple of leather strops, one for Herb’s Yellowstone to polish the back and one clean strop to finish off the back and a final strop of the bevel. With this system I can take an abused iron to sharp in less than 15 minutes and a iron that is just dull to sharp in a minute or so. BTW, my definition of “working sharp” is a iron that will give a fine shaven off end grain, if it turns end grain to dust it’s not sharp.

The only other things you need are a piece of scrap leather glued to some wood for a strop and a stick of chromium oxide (probably $8). Then watch Paul Sellers and Barr Quarton sharpening convex bevels on diamond stones on YouTube for free.

If you are going to be rehabbing old irons that need a square edge then you might want a honing jig to help keep it square while doing heavy stock removal.

I would see how the diamond stones and strop work for you before investing in more stones or jigs. I bet you’ll be surprised how very sharp that will get things.